BILL SCHACKNER Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via AP
INDIANA, Pa. They arrived in street clothes, ready to perform in a century-and-a-half-old hall at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, their faces covered by masks.
There was brief silence as IUP Chorale members standing 6 feet apart in an otherwise empty room looked toward their conductor.
Then, in unison, their voices soared.
The anthem “We Shall Overcome” was a planned tribute by the student ensemble to America’s civil rights movement and Black history. But after a long winter of isolation, it’s not hard to imagine the words carrying extra meaning that day for the young performers in jeans, sweatshirts and wool hats.